Supermarket giant handed £250k fine following Trading Standards investigation by council into food beyond use-by date
Asda Stores has been handed a £250,000 fine for displaying food beyond its use-by date, following an investigation by Derby City Council’s Trading Standards Team.
During the inspection at Asda’s Sinfin store on 15 July 2021, Trading Standards officers found 18 food items on shelves past their use-by date.
This followed previous warnings on two occasions from Senior Trading Standards Officers, the council noted.
The case was heard at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court last week (16 October), where District Judge Jonathan Taaffe found Asda Stores Ltd guilty of 11 offences related to having unsafe food on offer for sale, contrary to regulation 19 of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
The judge concluded that Asda Stores failed to prove that it had implemented its system properly and failed to show that it had made improvements following the warnings received from the Trading Standards team.
The supermarket chain was handed down a fine of £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £74,117.69 and a victim surcharge of £190.
Cllr Shiraz Khan, Derby's Cabinet Member for Housing and Regulatory Services, said: “A fine of this scale reflects the seriousness of the situation and the risk it posed to the people of Derby.
“We are lucky that we have a Trading Standards team who are committed to keeping our city safe, and I am incredibly proud of the work that they continue to do. This case serves as a reminder that we are prepared to take whatever action necessary against businesses that break the rules, no matter how big or small.”
Donna Dowse, Trading Standards Service Manager, added: “This was not an easy case to bring before the courts, and as a service we faced many barriers put before us due to the nature of Primary Authority Partnerships when trying to take enforcement action.
"The Primary Authority blocked our enforcement action in this case. As such, Victoria Rose [Senior Trading Standards Officer], had to take the matter first to the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and then to the Secretary of State before we could look at a prosecution. If it wasn’t for this commitment to keeping the public safe, then Asda would not have been held accountable for their failings as they have been today.”
A Primary Authority Partnership is an agreement in law between a business and a local authority.
If the local authority provides that business with “assured” advice, then the business can rely on that advice when being investigated by other local authorities, and the Primary Authority can block enforcement action being taken in respect of that advice.
Asda Stores has been approached for comment.
Lottie Winson
